Colds & Cuddles
by Miah-Chan
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto is facing something he's never had in his life before now; a cold! Can his favorite cherry-blossom medic save him from this accursed fate?...Or at least make him feel better with a little TLC? Naru/Saku fluff; no definitive pairings, though strongly hinted.


Hello dears! ***hugs******* Can you believe it, two new stories in just 2 days?! I'm on a roll! Hehe; of course, that could be due to the fact that I'm choosing to write NaruSaku fluff in place of my homework...but at least you readers benefit from it! ;)  
As much as I hate to burst all of our bubbles, I really don't expect to have this much luck much longer; "Tenderly" was written in order to get the idea onto paper (or a Word Document, as it were) so that I could concentrate on homework as well as prove to you all that I'm not dead. XD This new fic, "Colds & Cuddles", was pretty much the same scenario; I had the idea so I decided to write it out just to get it out of my head-it also helped with a bit of writer's block. ^.^  
I apologize if this fic sickeningly similar to "Tenderly"; the two ideas hit me around the same time, but I just happened to write "Tenderly" first. I hope you don't mind the continued fluff! ;)  
Also, apologies for the very **minor spoiler **which is revealing Kyuubi's true name. I've set it for after the Fourth Ninja War, so his name is now common knowledge.

**Disclaimer**: Miah-Chan _does not_ own "Naruto" or any of its characters; all such belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. :)

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**Colds & Cuddles**

Haruno Sakura let out a long, breathy sigh as she knocked on the door of Uzumaki Naruto's apartment; the blonde knucklehead had sent a message out to her via practically all of their Rookie friends, asking them to send her to him immediately once they saw her. Of course, her luck being as it was, she had somehow managed to meet up with _all_ of them in the same day, repeatedly receiving the same message. Finally, fed up with hearing the same story, she left the hospital immediately after her shift had ended, rather than sticking around as she usually did to complete paperwork, and had headed straight for Naruto's.

'_What could be so damn important that he couldn't just come find me himself?_' she grumbled to herself, knocking roughly on the door once again when the blonde didn't immediately answer. Growling under her breath, she pounded her fist on the door, calling impatiently, "Naruto, you'd better answer this damn door!"

The door opened seconds after she had completed her yelling, revealing a sleepy-eyed, sniffling Naruto. Sakura raised a delicate pink brow in surprise, entering his home once he moved to the side to let her in.

"What...what happened to _you_?" she inquired softly, her annoyance forgotten at the pitiable sight of him. Naruto sniffed loudly in answer, waving at her to follow him through the foyer and into his living-room. Once they entered the room Naruto immediately flopped on the couch, leaving Sakura to find her own seat; she chose the coffee table in front of the couch after a few moments debate.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto's voice was hoarse and scratchy. "I need you to...could you please...heal me? I feel _awful_." He groaned, rolling onto his side to face her as he clutched a flattened pillow to his chest. Sakura took the opportunity to fully look him over, her features contorted in worry.

Naruto's usually bright, playful blue eyes were dull, red-rimmed and bloodshot, his hair lank with sweat, his normally healthily tan skin pale in a way that suggested sickliness. Though he was in sweatpants and a wife-beater, a thick fleece blanket was bunched up at the other end of the couch, obviously having been used repeatedly. A box of tissues adorned the coffee table beside Sakura, a wastebasket full of used ones below it.

Sakura leaned forward, resting her hand on the blonde's forehead; he groaned in bliss at the contrasting coolness of her skin to the burning heat of his. Sakura made a 'tsk'-ing noise under her breath before applying medical chakra to her hand to check his temperature. The result was proof of a high fever and she took her hand away after a moment.

"Seems to me like you have a cold, Naruto." She finally said matter-of-factly. Naruto stared at her blankly for a moment, trying to understand her diagnosis.

"A cold?" he finally questioned, brows raised in surprised. "That's it? But...I never knew colds could feel so _terrible_!" Sakura chuckled, nodding as she placed her hands in her lap.

"Yes, well, some can be worse than others, but you should know that; surely this isn't the first cold you've had in your life." She paused, studying his eyes when he didn't answer. Her brows quirked in surprise and she asked incredulously, "You mean this is your _first_ cold?"

Naruto nodded and groaned again, placing a hand to his head as though it hurt to move. He sighed after a moment when the pain receded enough to speak, replying, "Seriously; I've never had one before. Kurama always healed me first."

Sakura stared at him in disbelief before asking the most obvious question at that moment: "Then why isn't he healing you now?"

Naruto had the dignity to look sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, answering softly, "I might have, kinda-sorta, y'know...pissed him off...so that he refused to heal me." Sakura gave him a hard, reprimanding stare and crossed her arms under her breasts.

"Mm-hm. I don't even want to know; you probably deserved it." The blonde squawked in protest but she ignored him, continuing, "So that's why you wanted me to come over so badly; you wanted me to heal you in Kurama's stead."

Naruto gave her a small smile, nodding, and asked in a small voice, "So, can you? _Please_?" Sakura chuckled and shook her head, standing.

"Sorry, Naruto, but colds are one of those things that just have to run their course; even if I could, there'd be no sense in wasting my chakra on something so simple, since it'll be gone in a few days anyway." She shrugged again while Naruto whined at her.

"But, but...Sakura-chan! This is torture! My head feels like it has boulders rolling around in it; my eyes itch and burn and water at the slightest aggravation, and my nose is sore from all the sneezing and blowing...which feels like I'm blowing my brains out through my nostrils! My body aches and I'm hot as hell one minuet, freezing the next. I'm hungry but I don't want to eat anything because my throat feels so sore and scratchy. My ears feel like they have permanent earmuffs over them...c'mon Sakura-chan, _please_!" the blonde whined, looking as though he wanted to cry. He clutched the pillow to his chest, aiming wide puppy-eyes at her, his lip poked out in a trembling pout.

Sakura gave him an apologetic smile, patting the top of his head gently. He gave a sound of despair, turning away and burying his head into his pillow in rejection.

"I know it sucks, but you'll have to grin and bear it. You're good at that, right?" she told him playfully, stroking his hair absentmindedly. He shrugged, refusing to look at her. She sighed and murmured, "Okay, okay. I think I know a few things that might help you feel a little better." With that said, she disappeared into his kitchen.

The kitchen was a disaster zone of empty ramen-cups and dirty silverware but she managed to find a clean pot and an unopened package of chicken-noodle soup; it wasn't ramen, but he would deal. She set the water to boil, leaving the kitchen briefly to find Naruto's bathroom and start the shower, setting the temperature to lukewarm so as to help battle his temperature. She returned to the living-room and touched his arm to get his attention.

"Go get a shower; it'll help with the fever and you'll feel somewhat refreshed. Once you're done washing up, get out, turn the water fully to hot and stay in there breathing in the steam; it'll help with the stuffiness in your sinuses." She helped him off the couch as she gave him the instructions, ushering him towards his bedroom before turning back to the kitchen to finish the soup.

Ten or so minutes later, the soup had cooled to a reasonable temperature and Naruto had completed his shower and steam session. She had since instructed him to lie in bed, bringing him his soup and leaving him to eat it in solitude while she picked up around his apartment. She emptied the wastebasket, found a full box of tissues, a bottle of headache-relief medicine from her purse, and poured her teammate a glass of ginger-ale to settle any uneasiness in his stomach. She brought all of these items into his bedroom, setting the tissues, pills, and ale on his bedside table, the wastebasket on the floor beside it. She then took his empty bowl into the kitchen, washing and putting the dishes out to dry before returning to Naruto's bedroom to check on him.

It was already late evening, the fiery light of the sunset spilling through the windowpanes; she had been there longer than she'd thought, caring for the sick blonde. She smiled softly, gazing at the pitiful figure of her teammate in his bed as he frowned at nothing in particular.

"Take your medicine, Naruto," she ordered, sitting on the edge of the bed and handing him two of the pills and the ale. He glanced at it before looking up at her and asking, "Are you sure that stuff will help?" Sakura sighed and asked a little crossly, "Who's the doctor here?" That earned her a half-hearted grin and obedience as he did as he was told.

Having done pretty much all she could for him, Sakura leaned in to tuck the sheets around the blonde as he lay down, petting his hair absentmindedly for a while before saying softly, "I guess I should get going."

Naruto stirred, his eyes opening to gaze at her sleepily; she then realized that he'd been dozing. He yawned hugely before inquiring, "Could you stay just a while longer, Sakura-chan?" The pink-haired kunoichi gazed down on her teammate as his eyes flickered closed again before she sighed, smiling slightly; she kicked off her shoes and lifted her feet onto the bed, settling back onto the pillows comfortably.

"Okay; for a little while then." She agreed, running her fingers through Naruto's blonde locks soothingly. The male gave a soft sound of appreciation, inching closer to her until he was cuddled up close, his head on her stomach just under her breasts, his arm draped loosely over her waist. Sakura didn't seem to notice; she simply continued stroking his hair comfortingly, her gaze focused on way the sunset created colors akin to those that named the element of her country.

"Sakura-chan...?" came Naruto's sleepy voice. She acknowledged him with a soft 'hm?' and he sighed contentedly, nuzzling her abdomen affectionately.

"Thanks for making me feel better."

Sakura smiled, her sea-green eyes softening as she murmured, "Get some rest, Naruto. I'll be here for you when you wake." With a lasting sigh of pleasure, Naruto curled himself around the young woman, cuddling her close as he drifted off to sleep, the scent that was purely Sakura soothing away the remaining twinges of his cold.

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Hope you enjoyed! I'm still working on my new, longer NaruSaku fic (which is yet to be titled...) so I hope to get a good amount of that done soon so that I can begin posting chapters for you all! ***huggles readers*** Clicky that little 'follow' button if you like, so that you can receive updates anytime I post a new fic. :)  
I guess that's all for now. Thanks for reading! R&R is super appreciated! :3

Miah-Chan


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